


I've Searched the Universe, but I've Never Met Anyone Like You

by winged_wishes_take_flight



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 09:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15140213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winged_wishes_take_flight/pseuds/winged_wishes_take_flight
Summary: After the events of season 6, the paladins all land on a new planet and Keith and Lance finally have time to catch up.





	I've Searched the Universe, but I've Never Met Anyone Like You

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I'm back! I was working on this for pride month, but I couldn't quite manage to get it up in time. Anyway, I hope you still enjoy it, and I hope everyone had a safe and happy pride! <3

            It had been a long day, and sleep was begging to take Lance away, tugging at his eyelids, trying to pull him under… but his mind was far too awake to let his body fall prey to the sleep it deserved.  He didn’t even realize so much could happen in one day, but Keith was back, with his mother, there were more Alteans out there, Lotor had used them all, and now the castle was gone, their home.  Keith was back.  Keith was back.  But all that played through his head was, _“I don’t have time for this, Lance.”_   Lance knew Keith hadn’t meant anything by it – it was all such a rush the moment he had returned from the Blade of Mamora.  But he also couldn’t stop thinking about how he had missed out on two years of Keith’s life.  Two years.  And Keith had a mom now.  Not that he didn’t before, but he’d never _known_ her.  And he’d changed so much.  He was taller, bigger, and more confident than Lance had ever seen him.  He’d grown in so many ways Lance hadn’t, and not just physically, but on a completely different level.  He almost acted like a totally different person.  Lance thought back to earlier, when he’d gotten a chance to finally talk to Krolia.

_“You’re Lance, right?” she had asked._

_“Yeah,” he had said simply, still trying to process his feelings.  “And, you’re really Keith’s mom?”_

_“I am.  I know, it doesn’t look good, coming back after all these years.  But I had to protect him,” she said woefully._

_“It’s hard growing up without a family.  I can’t imagine where I’d be now if it weren’t for mine,” he said, a sense of longing and homesickness swirling inside of him._

_“I will never forgive myself for what I’ve done.  But I did what I could.”_

_There was a moment of silence between them, neither sure of what to say to the other._

_“Keith’s told me all about you,” Krolia said after a moment.  Lance looked at her, confused._

_“Really?” he asked, genuinely shocked.  “Like… what, how annoying I am?  How I never stop talking?  How I always mess things up?”_

_She had laughed then._

_“No, I actually was going to thank you for helping him grow so much, and for making him happier.  He needs you, Lance.  You might not realize it yet, but he does.  And I think you need him too.”_

What had she meant by that?  They both had grown a lot together; they had been a pretty good team before Keith had left.  But he still hadn’t imagined he would ever have talked so positively about him.  He closed his eyes, willing sleep to take him away.  He would have to forgive Keith for how they had been reunited, or they could never move forward; it was complete chaos and urgency, and that wasn’t either of their faults.  Even though it had made it hard to focus in the heat of the moment, Lance hadn’t even really had time to process what had happened or his emotions.  He rolled over onto his back again.  He missed their rooms back in the castle now – the beds had been much more comfortable than the floor of their lions.  He wrapped Keith’s jacket tighter around him, unsure why he still had it now that he had returned.  He’d give it back to him tomorrow… It had become like a comfort blanket to him anytime he felt more alone than usual, and it still smelled like Keith, which was nice.

Jumping at the sound of someone else entering Red, Lance turned around to see the intruder.

“Keith?!” he said, pulling up his blanket over his shoulders, hoping the bright red jacket hadn’t caught Keith’s eye.

“Hey,” Keith said, a little groggily.  “Can’t sleep?”

“No,” Lance admitted.  “It just doesn’t feel like home, you know?  We’re on some alien planet and we’re not even all in the same lion.  I feel kinda disconnected.”  There it went.  His late night over-sharing.

“I get what you mean, I’ve had that feeling since I left,” Keith muttered.  “This is actually an improvement.”  There was a beat of silence.

“You didn’t just come in here because you couldn’t sleep, did you?” Lance asked.  _Really?_ _Way to go, Lance.  Way to freakin’ ruin the mood._

“Uh, no…” Keith answered awkwardly.  “I actually was looking for my coat.  I didn’t see it while we were all packing, and I was thinking maybe I left it in Red.”  Lance reddened suddenly, pulling his blanket up even further.  _Crap.  What should I do?_ he thought.

“Uh, I don’t remember seeing it,” he lied, thinking about how he had gotten it out of Keith’s room and kept it in his own the first night he had left.

“Oh…” Keith said, disappointed.  _Oh no, he had to fix this._

“Um,” Lance mumbled, not sure how to phrase that he was currently wearing said jacket Keith was looking for.

“Yeah?”  Just then, Keith’s wolf bounded in behind him and jumped up on Lance, pushing him onto his back.

“Heyyy, buddy,” he laughed as he ruffled his dark grey fur.  _Crap,_ he thought.  The coat had been revealed.  Keith didn’t even say anything for a second.  When Lance dared look at him, he had a finger pressed over his mouth and his complexion had turned a rather dark shade of pink.

“Uh, is there a reason you’re currently wearing my coat you supposedly couldn’t find?” he asked, trying to play it off cool.

“Uhh, I guess maybe it was here and I got suddenly cold,” Lance stammered quickly.

“What’s the matter with that one?” Keith pointed to Lance’s coat, hanging on the pilot’s chair.

“Yours is warmer!” Lance defended himself, throwing Keith’s much-thinner-than-his-own coat back at him and feeling as if, despite taking off the coat, it had gotten a whole lot hotter in these last couple minutes.  Keith caught it, and then hesitantly put it back on.

“It smells like you,” he mumbled quietly.  Lance’s blush deepened even more.

“Um,” he started, petting Keith’s wolf very intently.  “Do you want to stay here tonight?” he blurted out suddenly.  “IMEAN JUSTIF YOU WANTTO IT FELT KINDOF LONELY AND SINCE NEITHER OFUS CAN SLEEP ITHOUGHTMAYBE WECOULD CATCHUPYOUKNOW-” he very quickly stammered an excuse.  Keith looked at him blankly, then to his wolf curled up beside him, already half asleep.

“Sure,” he said.  “That might be nice.”  He sat down next to Lance and awkwardly pulled a portion of the blanket over his lap.  Lance’s heart sped up as their shoulders brushed.

“So… I know it was urgent and all when you came back,” Lance rambled.  “But I – we, ug… I really missed you.  Everyone else seemed to have someone, but I was kinda the odd man out, ya know?  I even missed our bickering, and… it was pretty lonely honestly.  We were a team, and then you left and when you do finally come back, you’re two years older and all grizzled and… and confident.  Not like how you left at all,” Lance looked down at the wolf again, heart beating rapidly.

“Grizzled?” Keith chuckled.

“SHUT UP!!!” Lance glared.

“You know, you’ve changed too, Lance.  I’m sorry I left all of you, but I thought it was what I had to do… But I especially missed you, Lance, and, if we’re being totally honest here, I’m not sure I ever would’ve left if you had tried to get me to stay,” Keith admitted quietly.  “I was a loner there too, until I met my mother.”  The conversation was more intimate than they had ever shared, but it felt so right.  They had always confided in each other when they needed someone to talk to.

“You might have stayed?” Lance whispered.  “I can’t believe I just let you go.”  He immediately realized what he had said and shifted uncomfortably.  “Not that I meant it like that-”

“Lance,” Keith said, looking deeply into his eyes.

“So, what was meeting your mom like?  What did you do in those two years?” Lance asked, cutting off whatever Keith had been about to say to him.  Keith smiled.

“Well, I was shocked at first.  I mean, I had gone my whole life assuming she was either dead or with some other guy.  Then my dad died, and I had no one to go to until Shiro.  Then she just popped back into my life.  I won’t lie, it’s not like I wasn’t bitter at first.  But then I realized that there was no point in staying bitter over it, I was just happy to actually have a parent.  And Lance, she’s amazing,” he smiled.  “She draws too, look,” he said, reaching into his small satchel.  Another piece of paper fell out and Lance picked it up to hand back to him, but not before glancing at it.

“Wait, you drew… me?” he asked.  Keith blushed again.

“Of course, I wanted to tell her about the other paladins,” he explained hastily.  “Here, she drew this,” he said, handing him a paper.  It was a stunning sketch of Keith’s wolf.

“Wow, she’s so talented,” Lance said, genuinely in awe.  “Now I see where you get it from..”

“I know, right?” Keith beamed, seemingly ignoring his last statement.  “She’s the best fighter too!  She showed me all kinds of cool techniques!”  Lance had never seen Keith act this excited about something.  Not that he never used to get excited, but he just seemed overall happier than before.

“Oh yeah, I guess you haven’t seen it since you’ve been back,” Lance said, searching around for his Bayard.  He held it out in front of him and grinned at Keith as it transformed into a sword.  Keith’s jaw dropped.

“You – what – you… you have a sword now?!” he finally exclaimed, baffled.

“Yup.  I bet mine’s bigger than yours,” he smirked, leaning closer to Keith.

“Uh, no.  No way.  Mine’s definitely bigger than yours,” Keith countered, leaning even closer to Lance.  They both blushed and turned away.  _Why did I say that???_ Lance thought.

“Uhh, anyway, pretty cool, right?” Lance said, putting his Bayard safely away for the night.  “Maybe you could teach me some techniques, cause I have no idea how to use it.”

“Yeah, we don’t want you accidentally decapitating anyone,” Keith laughed.

“Yeah,” Lance smiled at him.  He was so beautiful when he laughed; his eyes sparkled with humor and his smile held enough happiness to fill Lance’s entire soul.  Keith smiled back at him affectionately, and it took him aback.  The love and happiness shining in Keith’s eyes was too much for Lance; he had to turn away, otherwise there was nothing stopping him from kissing him.

“So… what about the planet you were on for two years?” Lance asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“Lance,” Keith said, his tone softer.  “How long are we going to dance around this?”

“What?” Lance asked, not sure where this was going.

“I don’t know why it wasn’t so obvious to me before.  Maybe I have changed.  Do you really want to know something about the planet I was on?  It gave me time to come to terms with my feelings, to finally be at peace with them.  Also, there were these things that played flashes of memories in your head from the past, the present, but also the future.  And you know what I saw?  I saw you and me together.  And happy.  And… you were kissing me.”

Lance was frozen in complete and utter shock.  He had no idea what he should say, if he could force words out at all.  So… they actually could end up… together?  It wasn’t just some crazy dream?

“Lance, I love you.  I’ve loved you for _years,_ but I’ve always been too afraid to admit it.  And I know you think I hated you, but I just didn’t cope with my feelings and confusion as I should’ve.  Part of the reason why I left was because I couldn’t handle my feelings for you.  Yeah, there were other reasons, but it was driving me insane, Lance.  And from my understanding, you’ve felt the same way,” Keith continued, tenderly this time.

“I- I couldn’t handle it either, Keith.  Constantly thinking that my feelings could never be reciprocated, that I was letting my family down, that I’d mess up the team’s dynamics.  I couldn’t do it anymore.  I tried to find feelings somewhere for anyone but you, for Allura especially.  I mean, she’s beautiful, who’s not in love with her… but it didn’t feel right.  And I knew it could never happen.  But you were gone and I was depressed and lonely and I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again, and… I gave up on you, Keith.  I gave up on you.  And I hate myself for it, but I did,” Lance let out a sob, burying his face into Keith’s shoulder.  He breathed in Keith’s scent deeply, trying to calm himself in the comfort of Keith’s warm body.  Keith cradled him against his chest and kissed his forehead lightly.

“We’re so stupid, lover boy.  So, so stupid,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry, Keith.  I love you.  I don’t know when it started, but I love you so much it hurts.  We’ve literally seen the universe, but I’ve never found anyone like you.  Every time I saw your stupid mullet, I wanted to run my fingers through it, kiss you till you couldn’t speak, I was losing my mind.”  Tears still stained his freckled face.

“Do it,” Keith whispered back.  “Do it.  Run your fingers through my hair.  Kiss me till I can’t speak.  Then don’t stop there.  Send my body into blissful paradise and sing me to sleep in your arms.”  And he did.

Lance pulled Keith as close as he could to his body, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his nose.  He ran his fingers through his soft, dark hair and kissed him deeply, drinking in his sugar-sweet lips.  And Keith kissed him back, the tension of years of build-up finally being set free.  He made his way onto Keith’s lap and stuck his tongue through his mouth.  Keith moaned softly and Lance smiled into his lips.  Keith ripped off his jacket, and Lance tugged at his shirt and kissed his pale shoulders, then his warm chest, right where his heart lay beating rapidly.  They rolled over, away from Keith’s wolf, and then Keith was on top of him, and Lance’s heart was pumping wildly out of control.  His breathing was getting heavy, but his tears eventually dried.  He had yearned for this for an eternity.

“I love you,” Lance barely managed to get the breathless words out between kisses.

“I,” Keith kissed his nose, “love,” his freckles, “you,” his lips.  Lance sighed happily into his touch as Keith traced his fingers along the constellations on his bare chest.  His touch felt as fiery as starlight, and Lance realized that no matter where they were in the vast universe, he would be okay as long as he was with Keith.

“Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“You looked really cute in my jacket, I hope you’ll steal it from me again,” Keith smirked.

“Oh, I will,” Lance grinned.  “Can I tell you something, Keith?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I totally remember that bonding moment,” Lance said, a little smugly, but also sheepishly.

“YOU WHAT?!” Keith shrieked.

“Shh!” Lance hushed him, leaning over to kiss him again softly.  “I thought about it constantly since it happened, but I wasn’t ready to come to terms with my feelings, so it was easier just to pretend it never happened,” he explained, looking into Keith’s dark eyes, just inches away from his.

“Do you know how much that tormented me?  All I wanted to do after that was cradle you in my arms again,” Keith said, playing with Lance’s fingers, intertwined with his.

“And that’s all I wanted you to do,” Lance whispered, raising Keith’s hand to his mouth and kissing it softly.

“Then let’s do it, and let’s keep doing it, and then let’s never stop,” Keith smiled.

“I can’t believe I’ve had you wrapped around my finger this whole time,” Lance smirked.  “I mean, I know I’m attractive and all, but-”

“Shut up,” Keith grinned, brushing his lips against the side of Lance’s mouth.

As the night drew on, their kisses became lazy, and soon Keith snuggled up next to Lance.  He wrapped his arms around his golden body and breathed deeply into his skin.

“You smell good,” he sighed sleepily.  Lance smirked, just barely as his eyelids fluttered closed.  The warmth and gentle touch of Keith’s body outlining his made him never want to sleep alone again; he pressed his body even closer to Keith’s until he could feel every angle, every curve of it against his own, and smiled.  He started humming softly, unsure of where the melody came from, and soon Keith’s breathing evened, and Lance fell into sleep’s welcoming arms not long after.  The sun would be up soon, but they would not follow it for quite some time after.

 

* * *

 

“Finally, they’re together,” Pidge sighed, peeking into the Red Lion.  “You owe me five, Hunk,” she smirked.

“What?!”

“SHH!!!” Pidge, Shiro, Allura, Coran, and Krolia all whispered in unison.

“Don’t you dare wake those two up, I’ve waited way too long for this,” Pidge hissed.

“I’m so glad they finally realized,” Allura smiled.  Shiro smiled at her and slipped his hand into hers.  She blushed and looked away.

“Let’s let them be,” Krolia smiled softly at the two boys.  “They had a long night.”

“Yeah,” Pidge snorted.  “Maybe next time they could be a little quieter.  Green was right next to Red and that was more than I needed or wanted to hear.”  Hunk chuckled.

“Hey, don’t forget you owe me that five!” she shouted, chasing after him as he darted away.  Lance stirred softly in his sleep, and the others followed in their leave.

“Hey,” he smiled softly at a groggy Keith.  He shifted under the weight of his wolf, who was sprawled on top of them.

“Hey,” Keith smiled lovingly back.  Lance pecked him on the nose, then the mouth.

“Your bed-head is cute,” he grinned.

“Yours is terrible,” Keith retorted, a huge smile spreading across his face.

“Shut up,” Lance laughed.  “It takes a lot of work to make my hair look as good as it does, and someone kept me from getting enough beauty sleep last night.”  Keith laughed and leaned in to kiss him again, but was interrupted by Pidge screaming.

“GET UP YOU TWO LOVEBIRDS, HUNK MADE BREAKFAST!!!”

They looked at each other in mild panic for a moment.

“Does everyone know?” Lance asked as he pulled his shirt on over his head.  Keith did the same.

“Who cares,” he said, taking Lance’s hand and walking out of Red.  “Let’s go get some breakfast.”


End file.
